Are you wowing your customers? 

Do you keep your customers interested as you learn new skills and approaches?

The new judges on X Factor this year added a whole extra dimension.  Unjaded by previous years they were passionate about “their” people, and in some ways the vote was for the judge as well as performer.  Little Mix were voted the winners because their voices were better, but they had an excellent story as they were created into a band on the show.  In addition Tulisa was a passionate champion of “ordinary” girls, and – the final boost – no band has ever one, so it was a chance to make history.  (Remember Obama’s victory? Same impulse.)

Do you have a good story?  

Is working with you a chance for them to redress an imbalance and make history?

The Masterchef series was for professional chefs.  We knew the result in the final programme before we were told.  When Michel Roux and Gregg tasted the first mouthful of the 3 dishes from Ash, the winner, their eyes lit up and they looked at each other and smiled.  They were surprised, and utterly delighted.  The other contestants were excellent both technically and in terms of presentation, but there was something more than excellent which wowed them about Ash’s food.  They had found unexpected magic.

Do you delight (and surprise) your customers – beyond reason?

 Sometimes the contestants have no previous interest like Harry Webb the drummer from McFly who won Strictly.  He appeared in the studio pigeon-toed and with no particular interest in dance.  His dance partner Aliona, provided the choreography which would help him shine, trained him, and created a bond.  He had moments of not being sure he wanted to be on the show, but once he decided he did, he began to enjoy it and worked hard.  His dancing was technically good enough, but – more importantly for the final count – his looks, his unassuming and warm personality, and his drumming wowed the public who voted for him.  As Len, the “senior” judge said at the end that, like the rest of the nation, he had fallen in love with him.

Do you look good to your customers.  Not in terms of a six pack, but is your appearance pleasing?

Do you have a personality that they warm to? 

Do you have flair?

In your own business can you find new ways in 2012 to provide solutions to these opportunities?

1. How are you wowing your customers? 
2. What new skills and approaches are you excited about now – which will interest your customers.
3. Your Story.  Look again at where you have come from.  It will probably be a story that your customers can relate to even if it is not rags to riches.  From hopeless to confident and assured, inadequate to fulfilled and generous will be more than good enough.   Don’t be ashamed of the bad stuff ….
4. Is working with you a chance for them to redress an imbalance and make history?
5. Do you delight (and surprise) your customers – beyond reason?
6. Do you look good to your customers.  Not in terms of a six pack, but is your appearance pleasing? Do you get compliments about your jewellery, your clothes, your emails?
7. Do you have a personality that they warm to? 
8. Do you have flair?
9. Are they “in love” with you? (think you are great, tell other people about you, pay up and show up.)

As long as your technical knowledge is good enough, you should make the most of your magic.  The chances are that is what they are buying. And that is especially important in this economy.

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The judges gave higher marks to Ricky Whittle, who had more talent, but Chris Hollins was the winner voted by the public. And the public had the final say.

Marketing a small business is also a talent contest: authenticity is easy as a small business, and talent is only part of the mix.

• You can be known for who you are.  You don’t have to make up cute personas because people buy from people they know like and trust.  Part of the knowing, liking and trusting comes from the fact that being authentic could even be better than being perfect.
• Chris was always the underdog and Ricky was always the most talented all the way through the competition.  Because Ricky was so good, people may have taken his talent for granted, and failed to get on his side.
• While Ricky was “cool” Chris had a sense of humour that was expressed more both in his conversation and his dance.  The Charleston was an entertainment tour de force with wit and fun as well as excellent dance steps.
• Ricky was warm and friendly but Chris was more open, and threw himself into the dancing with a refreshing exuberance and passion.
• Chris and his partner were happy to make fun of each othe.  They seemed very fond of each other but did not take their relationship too seriously, so we the audience could become part of it.
• Their partnership had strogner branding. They were referred to as “Hobbits” and as a couple as “Cola” – Ricky and his partner Natalie were not so easy to identify and know.

The people who buy your products and service may prefer a warm open personality to breathtaking talent, too.  What a relief – we can be ourselves!

Coverage in the press:

• Underdog Chris Hollins beats Ricky Whittle to take Strictly Come Dancing crown (telegraph.co.uk)
• Strictly final is watched by 11m (news.bbc.co.uk)

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Comments by Simon Cowell in the semi-finals of X Factor last weekend suggested to me that he thought Danyl was the best contender to win the competition.  Evidence?  He said that his was the best first audition ever, and seemed a little warmer in his approval of him than the other three contestants.

My personal view was that the only person with a chance of winning was Danyl.  But what did the audience think?

They voted him out.

That means 2 “experts” are wrong ( I include myself) and the audience is  right.

The audience has the power.  They can vote and will – at a later stage – buy the CD’s, DVD’s go to the live shows…and effectively create success.

You can say that the voting audience is mostly young girls which is why there are more boys in the final, and could explain why JedWard stayed in the competition so long.  Who is the buying audience for pop music?  Young girls.

As the expert in our own business it is as well to remember that it is the audience who decides.  They decide to give you money, and if they like you and want to see you next week.  Whatever you are selling – therapy sessions, gigs at the O2 arena, consultancy services or books and CD’s – it is the audience who decides.

And the message is:

Know your audience  (demographics  will help)

Find out what they want (X Factor showed us week after week)

Be good at something (singing) but also be appealing

Test with different choices (Stacey Solomon, Olly Murs or Joe McElderry)

Know you can be wrong

Throw in some excitement  by associating with bigger names – (George Michael, Michael Buble and Robbie Williams)(which could alter the voting demographics)

Then make the record and hope that it sells as well as Susan Boyle’s 4.5 million copies shipped to the US – breaking all records.

Let the X Factor inspire you in your marketing!

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While it is obviously good television to have them be abusive to the hopefuls it does not do the image of business much good.  The dragons look cold and you feel embarrassed for the participants.

Last night was a shot of business inspiration.  The dragons were  full of praise for a professional confident women who had already achieved a great deal.

What was even more refreshing was that Sharon Wright was not arrogant about her success. In fact at one point she said that she was not very proud of what she had done in the last two years.  Deborah Meaden immediately told her that she was fantastic and that all the dragons thought she had done extremely well.

The dragons were impressed that:

• she had developed a product from her idea
• already made sales
• with additional orders in hand
• and big plans for global expansion
• she made a confident pitch
• was clear about who she wanted to work with

She was offered the money she wanted (£50,000) by Theo Paphites who described his offer as insurance, and by Deborah Meaden who wanted the opportunity for herself.  This allowed the programme to have some  inter-dragon rivalry which is the best TV of all.

Peter Jones decided not to invest.  Not because he didn’t want to invest, but because he felt that Duncan Bannatyne and James Caan would be the most appropriate dragons to work with.  Sharon herself had identified Duncan and James, so that made sense.  However I don’t remember seeing such altruism on the programme before. ..which was another spark of inspiration.

The drama was that James and Duncan had to go to the back of the room and work out a deal.  Of course they weren’t going to offer exactly what she wanted.  They are self made millionaires and are unlikely to do what is expected .

Another unusual part of this feel-good scenario was that they offered more than the original request (£80,000 not £ 50,000), but for that they wanted not 15% of the business, but 25%

It was then Sharon’s turn to go to the back of the room and decide between the three offers.

She came back with the wonderful comment that she was a businesswoman and would negotiate: she would take the money but only for 20% of the business.

Dragon’s counter offer: 22.5%.

Deal struck.

The satisfying aspect of this scenario was that the dragons were impressed with the numbers, with her clarity, and with her as a person.

Peter Jones suggested that the money was not needed, but Sharon wanted a better quality of life.  She was not afraid of working all hours but wanted more time off, and -even more interesting – she wanted somebody at the end of the phone to help her with difficult decisions.

Best of all as a viewer it looked as though she had achieved all this and worked round the clock BUT had a great relationship with her 12 year old daughter who she described as her biggest fan.

In fact when interviewed by Evan Davies afterwards she made the comment that her daughter would be so proud.

Wow.  Business success and good relationship- it was extremely moving to watch.

We saw all the life stages of a business through the programme.

Sharon saw the business opportunity (threading cable through cavity walls),  got the product made, got orders, had plans for global expansion and subsequent products, worked hard, and with huge support from those closest.

And finally she received more funding than she asked for from rich experienced businesspeople who wanted to help her succeed.   She was treated as a respected equal by the dragons.

Not only is she female, but she is a single mum.  What an inspiration.

This is business rather than endless stories about bankers.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… Rank: wait… Traffic: wait… Price: wait… C: wait…

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